As you can tell, today is not a Monday; so why is there a short blog post from me? That’s a simple answer, because not only is today Star Wars Day, but it’s also Free Comic Book Day!
Star Wars Day is always held on the 4th of May, regardless of what day it is, just so people can say, May The 4th Be With You. Free Comic Book Day (FCBD), however, is traditionally held on the first Saturday in May.
I feel they are two of the largest pop culture dates on the geek calendar, so it’s not often that Star Wars Day coincides with FCBD, but I think it just gives people twice the reason to celebrate the day.
I have mentioned it before, but Star Wars has a special place in my family. We enjoy it through movies, books, toys, board games, TV shows1 and cosplay. This also includes comics. Throughout the years, I have gathered a collection of Star Wars comics, so FCBD holds significant importance for me.
Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm & DC/Marvel/FCBD
So, what’s the point of this post? Easy, if you’re a fan of the adventures of characters from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, then today is your day to watch the movies or TV shows, read that book, play that computer game, or simply wear that Darth Vader t-shirt to the supermarket. Own this day, own it!
If you’re a fan of comic books, you need to get yourself down to your local comic book store; if possible, so you can support them by picking up some free comic books, cosplaying as your favourite characters, and buying some items. These stores are the lifeblood of the industry, so please support them.
And if you’re a fan of both Star Wars and Comics, well…today’s the day you can live your best life! My family recently made their own fantastic Stormtrooper helmets, which UMC1 and UMC2 will be wearing somewhere today.
How are you celebrating Star Wars Day and Free Comic Book Day? Please let me know. Ok, that’s it for me. Enjoy this amazing day and I’ll see you on Monday.
1.) One day I’m going to get Disney +. It’s not today, but one day.
For those of you who have read about our entertainment differences, you know how brave my wife would have to be to try out a new TV show; especially if she knows next to nothing about it. Having said that, my wife is like any other person because she has books, music, and movies that she enjoys, along with some TV shows.
The opposite is also true because just like other people, there are books, music and movies that she dislikes, as well as TV shows. And this darling little cupcake of displeasure is what we will be discussing today.
My wife will watch a new TV show for several reasons. It could be because the show has been recommended to her by myself, friends, or the internet community. Another is that it’s connected or linked to something that she is familiar with; like an adaption of something she already likes, or similar to an already existing TV show.
The reasons for her to start watching a TV show are small, and yet, they can actually be measured against the TV shows she doesn’t like. This is because she has quit them, and once that’s done, they don’t get to come back. Ever.
To be fair to her, she never sets out to dislike a TV show. She always has the intention of liking and following the show, through season after season. But yet, and just like relationships, not all of them can last.
When I start watching a new TV show, there would need to be some major problems with it, for me to quit watching. Whether this is a positive or negative trait, I’m not smart enough or cool enough to answer that foreboding question.
With my wife on the other hand, the reason to stop watching a TV show doesn’t have to be complicated, because she has a lot of reasons to quit watching a TV show. Some are very fair, honest and reasonable, while others make me ask, “You can’t be serious?!”
Having discussed this blog post with her, I’ve created a list of 12 TV shows that my wife started watching, but quit for multiple reasons; though some are quite similar. A TV show doesn’t have to do much to lose my wife’s interest, so I had better take close and personal attention to this.
Anyway, let’s see what these poor TV shows did, for my wife to leave them. I’ve also added the episode that made her quit. Enjoy!
The Tick (Remake): Episode 3
When Arthur was being interrogated by the police, it gave her the “ick”, which to her is second-hand embarrassment. She hates watching people embarrass themselves.
The Tudors: Episode 1
She just thought it was really boring, and she said, “Life is too short for this.”
Ghosts (American remake): Episode 4
She saw clips of the British show on YouTube, and she thought it seemed funny. She couldn’t find it on any streaming service, so she tried the American version instead. She said, “It just wasn’t funny and I was super disappointed.”
Supergirl: Episode 4
She really wanted to like Supergirl, but I’ll let my wife explain this one: “Calista Flockhart was too distracting for me. I can only see her as Ally McBeal.“
I Hate Suzie: Episode 1
She loves Billie Piper, but she couldn’t stand the second-hand embarrassment. Please see the Tick.
The Office (American remake): Episode 2
She thought the show wasn’t funny and kind of boring. Similar to The Tudors, she mentioned that, “Life is too short to wait around for it to get good.”
The Tourist: Episode 3
This is a weird one, even for her. Since we live in New Zealand, we receive a lot of Australian TV shows. However, she believed that actors having Australian accents in a drama situation like The Tourist was just wrong; very, very wrong.
Supernatural: Episode2
She really wanted to like it, because she thought the memes were funny. After watching two episodes, she just wasn’t interested anymore.
Invincible: Episode 3
I’m a fan of Invincible, having read and collected the comics, so I thought she might have liked it. She didn’t, because whenever J. K. Simmons was talking as Nolan Grayson, aka Omni-Man, she could only hear J. K. Simmons’ Tenzin from The Legend of Korra.
Battlestar Galactica (Remake): First episode of the Mini-series
I had seen the remake before, and I had loved it. I missed the final season, so I talked my wife into watching the entire series with me. She lasted until Number Six killed a baby, by snapping their neck in the first episode. Once that was done, she was out of the show. She said that she wasn’t prepared to watch a TV show, that murdered babies.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Episode 2
My wife watched it with me because we are both fans of Middle-earth. Like many other people, she thought the dialogue sounded like a school play, so she just couldn’t get into it.
House of the Dragon: Episode 3
Even though she was a fan of Game of Thrones, and we watched that show together, she wasn’t too interested in House of the Dragon. This was because she knew what was going to happen to the main characters. She used the “Life is too short” quote again for this show.
Do you agree with any of my wife’s TV-watching decisions? As always, please let me know.
This list will be updated, but in the meantime, I’ll have to make a list of movies that my wife has quit; and I promise you there are many.
That’s it for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, call for a ceasefire in Palestine, and I’ll see you next week, for the return of the Tour of the Solar System!
I had a completely different blog lined up for this week, but after the media announcement on Friday, I changed my mind and wrote this instead. Akira Toriyama, the legendary manga creator, died on 1st March from an acute subdural hematoma, aged 68 years old.
Toriyama had created and worked on many different projects and video games over the years, like Dr. Slump, the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. However, his most famous creation was Dragon Ball, which showcased his talents to Japan and the world.
So what’s the point of this blog?
I’m crying about the death of a man I had never met.
Akira Toriyama. Credit: Dragon Ball Wiki
It won’t come as a shock, but I’m a fan of Dragon Ball because I’m a fan of Toriyama’s work. His art was outrageous, explosive, and detailed, whether it was manga or anime. It was unreal. I mentioned this before, but I loved the way he drew ears, for some strange reason. You could see a character and judging by their ears, you could tell whether they belonged to Toriyama or not.
As for his vehicles, they were so well designed, that you could see yourself driving one of them, whether they travelled by air, land, or sea. They were so good!
The plots were just as fantastic. People will talk about his art, but Toriyama was an amazing storyteller. His characters went on huge quests, and fought powerful foes, but also went through massive personal growth, so his characters were always evolving.
I’m sad about his passing for many reasons. Even not personally, Toriyama introduced me to manga, anime, and other parts of Japanese culture. For a geek living in New Zealand, his characters and art were extraordinary. My love of manga and anime can be traced back to him.
It’s been astonishing to see the outpouring of tributes to Toriyama from fans around the world. He was beloved by so many people. It made me think of all of the hundreds of artists, writers, singers, actors, directors, scientists, athletes, and anybody else, whose work has indirectly shaped our lives. They’re in the background of our subconscious.
It’s not until one of them dies, that you reflect and realise how influential they were to you and your life. That’s how I feel about Toriyama. His influence on pop culture has changed the world; the word Saiyan, is now part of the world’s lexicon, regardless of language or culture.
I read how many different manga and anime creators have come out and cited Toriyama as their source of inspiration. I find this amazing because even Toriyama was inspired to pursue a career in illustration. I find the creation and history of entertainment, similar to the history of science, where all creators are standing on the shoulders of giants. And make no mistake, Toriyama was a giant.
Imagine if Toriyama was never inspired to draw and create? It’s in the realms of possibility that maybe someone down the road would have drawn characters with energy beams, have awesome names for attack styles, teleportation, explosive fights, cities being destroyed, and badass vehicles.
But where would we be without Toriyama and powering/levelling-up sequences? Think about it. We would be lost in the abyss. For me, the powering/levelling-up sequences in Dragon Ball represented the brilliance and glorious scope of Toriyama’s skills.
I don’t know what Toriyama’s legacy will be for the world, but I feel it will be eternal. As for me, the biggest praise I can give Toriyama is that when UMC1 and UMC2 are ready, I’ll be showing them Dragon Ball. I can’t wait to sit down with them both, and let them experience the crazy and beautiful nature of Toriyama’s work; along with practising their own Kamehameha waves.
Like I said before, I can never thank Toriyama enough for his work, so all I can do is let the next generation live it and breathe it. Right, I need to control my crying, so that’s it for this week. What’s your favourite art drawn by Akira Toriyama? Please let me know.
Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Don’t forget to walk your dog; watch a banned movie; go read some manga, and I’ll see you next week because we’re going to check in on the Coalition of Chaos.
If you inhabit any of the plethora of areas that count as geek culture, then you would have known one of the largest geek culture events in the world, took place last week. No, I’m not talking about Barbenheimer; though I feel that could be a blog all on its own.
What I’m really talking about, is the 2023 edition of the San Diego Comic-Con. As I’ve stated before, I’m still over 10,000 km away from the event, but one day I’m going to go to it. One day. Now for those of you that don’t know what the San Diego Comic-Con actually is, firstly how is that possible?! I’m joking, nobody is perfect so its fine.
The San Diego Comic-Con is a mega event; if not the mega event that celebrates popular culture. It’s where creators and companies gather to promote and advertise their products to the public, like toys, anime, computer games, manga, books, comics, movies, tv shows, and anything else I haven’t thought of.
We also can’t forget to mention, it’s an amazing opportunity for cosplayers to shine! If I ever went, I would cosplay as a tired broke father, wearing tracksuit pants, a witty t-shirt, and rocking the same haircut he’s had for 20 years. I would clean up with the cosplay awards, so look out!
Apart from the products available for sale at the event, San Diego Comic-Con is famous for the many releases, trailers, and announcements, from companies across genres. I’ll be honest here, I haven’t read or watched every single scrap of information that was released at San Diego Comic-Con. I love popular culture, but I’m not that committed.
In saying that, here’s a question: Did anything good happen? Was there any information about an upcoming product, that I found to be interesting?
You’re in luck, because I’m going to answer that great question! And as I stated last year, let’s establish a few things first:
1.) I have not read or seen, every article or trailer released from San Diego Comic-Con. I can only discuss the things I have knowledge of, but also things I’m actually interested in. I’m still waiting for the release of the Salt and Vinegar biography movie, damn that would be good!
2.) Just because a product is on my list, doesn’t mean I’ll actually get to see it or purchase it. Quite simply, if something has landed on this list, it has my attention; regardless if I watch and purchase it.
Clear as a spider drink? Great, once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.
One of these days, I’m going to write a blog about Big Red, because I’m an enormous Hellboy fan. I’ve been reading and collecting Mike Mignola’s creation for years, so I’m always ready to hear about new content.
So imagine my utter shock, following the announcement of the Giant Robot Hellboy mini-series. I’m not smart enough to even begin to explain how insane this series sounds and looks. Mignola is writing the mini-series, with Duncan Fegredo adding the art. I find it amazing that the duo that gave us some important Hellboy stories like Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt, The Storm, and The Fury, are giving us another one?!
The first issue is released in October by Dark Horse, and I have already subscribed to it. The covers look phenomenal, so let’s have some good ole Hellboy shenanigans! Can’t wait.
Star Wars: The High Republic
I know I keep saying this, but I really do need to write a Star Wars: The High Republic blog. Phase II of the story finished recently, though I’m still waiting for my copies of Quest for Planet X,Path of Vengeance, and The Edge of Balance: Precedent to finally arrive in my tiny letterbox.
At San Diego Comic-Con information was released concerning the final section, Phase III. These include:
Star Wars: The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight (mini-series-Marvel)
Star Wars: The High Republic (Marvel)
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures (Dark Horse)
Star Wars: The High Republic: Escape from Valo (written by Daniel José Older and Alyssa Wong)
Star Wars: The High Republic: Defy the Storm (written by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland)
Star Wars: The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness (written by George Mann)
I’m really enjoying this Star Wars project, so I’m looking forward to reading all of those products.
Knights Vs Samurai
If I understand it correctly, during the Todd McFarlane panel, some new titles were announced through Image Comics. One was a title called Knights Vs Samurai, written by actor David Dastmalchian, and the artist is Federico “Fede” Mele. Apart from the concept of knights and samurai fighting each other, I know little else about it, other than it looks quite interesting.
Movies
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
The classic story of four mutant turtles growing up to be teenage ninjas is as old as 1984. I had already heard of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, but when I saw the clip, I also watched it with UMC1. He told me it looked crazy and fun, but more importantly, he wanted to go and watch it with me! High praise indeed, that an eight year old boy wants to be seen in public with his father!
The Marvels
I feel terrible for saying this, but I still haven’t seen Thor: Love and Thunder,Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 yet. I know, I suck. Having said that, The Marvels is a film I do want to see, but I need to watch the other four films first.
Television shows
Invincible: Season Two
To save myself some time and effort, I’ll direct you to a previous blog, so you can understand my feelings about Invincible. I’ve seen Season One, and I loved it. I’m curious to see how they handle Angstrom Levy, and how far will they take the story? Will we see Nolan on Thraxa, or at least Oliver?
The first season was released in March 2021, so just like everybody else, I’ve been waiting very patiently for the second season. It should be awesome, especially since fellow Kiwi, Cliff Curtis is involved.
Special Mention
Everything Star Trek
I’m currently riding a Star Trek wave, and I don’t really want to get off it. Announcements and information about Star Trek: Discovery-Season Five, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds-Season Two, and Star Trek: Lower Decks-Season Four were all very welcome. I’ve just finished Star Trek: Picard-Season Three, so I’m ready for some more.
Also, the news of some sort of crossover between the shows seems quite….fascinating.
A ton of other stuff was announced, but these were the main ones that I found interesting. This blog about San Diego Comic Con is smaller than last year, though I’m not sure why. Maybe I’m getting too old, or I’m watching my money more. Who knows?
Anyway, that’s it for today. What announcements from San Diego Comic-Con were you interested in? Please let me know. I’m off to watch the second episode of Good Omens 2, so don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go watch some FIFA Women’s World Cup football, and I’ll see you next week.
I want to talk about my wife. Why? Considering she’s the only other adult in my house, we do have a lot in common. I mean, we did get married, so we must actually like each other. We both enjoy various pop culture franchises like Doctor Who, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the list could go on and on.
We both love reading and eating pizza, as well as sharing a hatred of housework. We’re also in agreement that something very strange is happening with our local corner shop, because the hours they’re open are truly bizarre.
There are many other similarities between us, but they are not as interesting as the differences concerning entertainment.
If you can break it all down, there are two major differences between us. The first is…it’s still difficult to acknowledge this publicly, but my wife enjoys Sour Cream and Chives. I know what you’re thinking; how did a Salt and Vinegar-loving and Sour Cream and Chives-hating guy like myself, end up being married to a Sour Cream and Chives-loving and Salt and Vinegar-hating woman? No one is perfect or infallible; except God, Chuck Norris, and Sir David Attenborough.
One day I’ll write about a pair of star-crossed lovers, meeting over a packet of Chicken chips, but today is not this day.
The second major difference is the consumption of entertainment; such as novels, movies, and tv shows. Let’s start with movies, shall we? I enjoy movies, either watching them at home or at the cinema; because everybody loves watching a movie in the dark with 100 other random people, while eating overpriced food.
The way I view movies can easily fall into two groups: movies I’ve seen before and movies I’ve never seen. There are a lot of movies that I would love to see again, whether they are one of my favourites, or if they are part of a series with a new addition coming out, so I want to familiarise myself with the plot and characters again. That sounds fair, right?
On the other hand that is not holding a lightsabre, there are new movies that I want to see; which to be honest is the majority of the two. Do I want to see every new movie that’s released? No, that’s insane, plus I would be broke. I just want to see some particular new movies, for whatever particular odd reason.
Ok, but what about my wife? She’s like me, that she can enjoy rewatching a favourite movie. This is something that she likes and is comfortable with. She knows the actors, the director, the plot, and the genre, so she knows what to expect. Again, that sounds fair, right?
With new movies, we do have a problem though. My wife does not like watching new movies; mainly ones she knows next to nothing about. She will happily watch a new movie at the cinema or at home, with pre-existing characters that she knows and loves. But ask her to watch a movie where she doesn’t know the characters or the plot? Hell, no. She will not watch it.
There is a loophole to this law: my wife will watch a new movie with characters she has never seen before, if…and only if, she has read the book that the movie is based on. That way, she is guaranteed to know various things about the plot and characters. You can’t expect her to watch a movie that she knows nothing about, can you?
So when it comes time for the two of us to sit and actually watch a movie together, there is a lot of discussion and negotiating involved.
Books are also treated the same way for both of us; to a point. I will reread my favourite books, but my main focus is reading new material. I have said this before, but my reading pile is reproducing asexually because it’s grown to five piles which are now sitting on my set of drawers. I have to apologise to them daily for not reading them fast enough; I have a Star Wars book that’s been sitting there for three years and counting.
Would you like to know where my wife’s reading pile lives? Those books are sitting next to the other books on the shelves, that she has already read! When my wife finishes reading a series, “What should I read next?” would be the next question. If you’re thinking, “You should read a book you’ve never read before”, then you don’t know my wife.
She will simply look through the shelves and select a book series that she has already read 100 times before, and start reading. Why you ask? It’s the same reason as the movies; she already knows the plot and characters; it’s familiar and that means the books are something that she is going to like, because…she has already liked and read them before!
I feel she’s my own personal mogwai, that comes with pop culture rules. There are exceptions to her book law: my wife does not like reading a stand-alone book, that is not part of any series. The biggest reason for this is that if she ever reads and likes the book, where does she go from there? There’s no sequel or prequel, it’s just the end. So would my wife commit her time and energy to a single book? It could go either way.
“Hang on, Scott. If your wife only ever reads books she has already read, then how does she read anything new?” That’s a great question. My wife will only read a new book if it’s based on a movie that she has already seen, or it’s a series of books that has been entirely published; like Twilight, Fifty Shades of Gray, or Harry Potter. This way, she can read the first book right through to the final book, without having to wait for the next book to be published. That’s torture for her, waiting for something to be published or released.
Also if it’s similar to something she already enjoys, like The Hunger Games, then reading the Divergent series is in the same wheelhouse, and it also fits in with her book reading criteria. I’ve known her for 10.5 years, so I understand her logic.
With television shows, you can pretty well guess where this is headed, and you are sort of right. TV shows are divided into four groups; shows that we both watch together, shows that I watch by myself, shows that she watches by herself, and shows neither of us watches.
We both tend to watch tv shows that are based on things that we have already seen, or at least read about; whether it’s a book or a comic. There are exceptions to this of course, like comedies or science-fiction.We’ve learned that if we want to watch a new tv show, we need to mention it to the other person. 90% of the time, the other spouse doesn’t want to watch it and that’s ok; however, with the other 10%, the answer is yes, which is strange, to say the least.
So what can we make of this? If anything, I like reading and watching new material, whereas my wife enjoys immersing herself in familiar content. We are both living with the opposite version of ourselves in terms of entertainment consumption, but nobody is perfect. Except God, Chuck Norris, and Sir David Attenborough.
That’s it for another rant and another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Remember to walk your dog; read a banned book; remember the answer is 42; and I’ll see you next week.
I want to talk about the Coronation of King Charles III. Why? There are two main reasons for this, and I think you can guess the second reason. Let’s back up and start with the first reason. The last British coronation was on 2nd June 1953, when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, after the death of her father, George VI.
Being a New Zealander and a student of history, watching the coronation of Elizabeth’s son, Charles III, was always a possibility. I mean, coronations don’t happen every week, do they? Maybe in Game of Thrones, but not in real life. The concept of the coronation was fascinating because, like billions of other people, I had never seen a live British coronation.
Because of the time zone difference, the coronation would be screened live in New Zealand, on Saturday night. Now the thing about last Saturday night, there was no test rugby on; so I could watch the coronation. However would I though? This would require some things to happen: UMC1 and UMC2 would need to be asleep before the coverage began, but I’d also need my wife’s blessing.
You see we have made Saturday night our date night. And when I mean date night, I mean staying at home to either play board games, play a PC Lego game, or watch a movie or tv series. You know, the standard thing that extremely cool people do on a Saturday night.
So I was unsure whether I wanted to watch the coronation. Watching a historic event, or helping Lego Harry Potter to survive Years 5-6? Oh, the agony of making a geek choose. The interesting point is that the decision was actually taken away from me, because my wife suggested we watch the coronation together.
I was stunned at this because my wife is; and I’m quoting her description of herself as, “…a no-frills practical person.” A coronation was one of the last things, I would imagine my wife actually sitting down to watch, but she did it to spend time with her awkward geeky husband, so she scored some great spouse points.
Let’s set the scene, shall we? We’re in the bedroom watching the coverage via the laptop, with my wife sitting on the bed, and I’m in the swivel chair. After playing several games of Uno and waiting for the coronation procession to begin, my wife started her master plan. She knew I’d be listening and watching carefully to the coverage, so she started trying to be funny to annoy me, just because she could. Among many other statements during the coronation’s coverage, my wife set these zingers off:
If this is the scaled back version, I would hate to see what the full on version looks like.
If they were already in the car, why bother with the horses and carriage?
Is that a moat or a wet footpath?
What the hell?! Is that Richie McCaw?!
When the announcer introduced Liz Truss, as being the UK Prime Minister for a brief time, my wife and I both said, “What a burn!”
How many more people are they going to cram in?!
What’s with the Michael Jackson glove?
They would all be screwed if the cue card guy dropped the cards!
Elsa’s coronation wasn’t this bloody long.
A good excuse to wear robes, I guess.
When eating some cheese and crackers, she turned to me and said, “Wilt thou partaketh of these snacks?”
Where are they going? Out the back to sit down? They sat the whole way there and most of the service.
When the coronation procession ended at Buckingham Palace, that was the signal for us to go to sleep. Before we did though, my wife asked if I liked her commentary, because she said that she awesome. It is true, she is awesome; sometimes.
What did you think about the coronation? Was my wife correct? Please let me know. And with that, another weekly rant has ended; though we did have Star Wars Day and Free Comic Book Day.
Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Remember to walk your dog; read a banned book; eat French Vanilla ice cream; and I’ll hopefully see you next week.
It’s time to celebrate one of the most important days on the Geek calendar. Today is the 4th May; Star Wars Day! Now to say Star Wars Day isn’t a big deal to our family, is a massive understatement. The love for Star Wars in strong in my family. I have it, my wife has it, and our children have it.
From movies, books, comics, toys, board games, cosplay, and tv shows, we love Star Wars. I mean I did get married on Star Wars Day, as well as give UMC2, a Star Wars name. That is next level commitment.
Because of this special day, I’d like to share two of our favourite Star Wars books. First is UMC2’s pride and joy; Star Wars: The Secret Life of Droids. He loves this book, and quite often retells information about IG-88, Pit droids, Crab droids, Probe droids, and every other droid, to some unfortunate people at the supermarket.
The second book is Star Wars: Alien Archive. This was given to me as a birthday gift, which contains information and illustrations about the various alien species in the Star Wars universe. I’m not ashamed to admit it, but this book has been quite helpful with reading other Star Wars content. Nice.
And to end this short and zealous blog, I’d like to talk about Power droids, aka Gonk droids. All four of us love Power droids. I mean, who wouldn’t? Anyway, some very creative people, produced a fan film about everybody’s favourite walking battery; it’s awesome. If Disney actually made a real movie or tv show about Power droids, we would all watch it.
Do you celebrate Star Wars Day? Please let me know what you do. That’s it for this special blog, and I’ll see you on Saturday for the second special geek blog. May the Force be with you. Always.
I want to talk about The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Why? This is a no brainer. I’m a modest fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s work, so the concept of a tv show set in Middle-earth during the Second Age, was always going to interest me. When the show was released, I happily read several articles about it; which included positive and negative reviews, plus everything in between.
In September, I wrote a blog about some creative negative reviews about the show, because I didn’t know when I would get a chance to view it. That changed a few weeks ago, when I promised myself a reward for surviving 2022, in the form of watching the show.
So during my holiday break, I watched the show over three nights, which involved rain, a snoring and farting dog; as well as UMC2 getting out of bed multiple times, to check to see if the house was still there. I’ve also just finished The Fall of Gondolin, so the timing was written in Varda’s stars.
After watching the first season, I thought in my infinite wisdom that reviewing The Rings of Power would be a smart idea. Maybe.
The first thing I want to discuss and acknowledge, is how difficult it is to adapt any prequel medium; let alone a famous one like The Lord of the Rings. The pressure on the crew and cast to satisfy the media, fans, critics, and the public would be immense. Imagine if a tv show was developed to focus on the founding of Hogwarts, from Harry Potter, or the creation of Panem, from The Hunger Games? The social media response would be madness.
The reaction to The Rings of Power was always going to be mixed. The show’s expectations would be higher than a person that’s fantastic at jumping, on a day they have a special reason to be jumping. Among the viewership, there would die hard Tolkien fans, The Lord of the Rings trilogy fans, movie fans, fantasy fans, critics, and the casual viewer.
Would people be comparing the show to the movies? How accurate do you want the show to follow the source material? How much artistic license can you use? How do you keep old fans happy, but not alienate new fans, and vice versa? Would people want to see more of Middle-earth or are the movies enough?
That’s all well and good Scott, but what are your thoughts on the show? Wow, what an original question!
Let’s break this down into four sections.
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Things I feel The Rings of Power, may need to improve on
The sets were amazing, but they looked new. They didn’t look like they were hundreds or thousands of years old.
Some dialogue could do with some polishing.
Elrond’s oath to Prince Durin about mithril was strange, because he ended up discussing the metal with many non-dwarven people.
Even though time is not absolute, it was difficult to determine how much time had passed. eg The Númenóreans journey to Middle-earth and Galadriel’s adventures.
Why was Halbrand in the middle of the Great Sea in the first place?
Things I liked in the The Rings of Power
Having a mortal human man (Aragon, Beren and Tuor) falling in love with an immortal elven princess (Arwen, Lúthien and Idril) had been done before. So it was refreshing to see a immortal male elf (Arondir) in love with a mortal human woman (Bronwyn).
The costumes, sets, CGI and music were outstanding.
Witnessing the creation of Mount Doom and the conversion of the Southlands into Mordor, was an unexpected and excellent surprise.
Adar and the Orcs winning, was actually a moral victory.
The concept that not everybody hated Sauron, was a quite clever idea.
The design of Númenor was visually gorgeous; especially their ships.
Travelling by map was great for viewers unfamiliar with Middle-earth.
Elrond and Durin’s relationship was special, because not only did it highlight inter-species friendships, but it also looked at what it would be like having an elf as a friend. Elrond missed 20 years of Durin’s life, because 20 years is nothing to an immortal elf.
Finally showing us female dwarves was great.
Having Sauron play the hero and victim in his own story, was unexpected. The more I thought about it, I more I liked it.
Because Nori discovered and helped Gandalf, it explains as to why the wizard has a soft spot for hobbits. Not including Bilbo, of course.
I’m bias as a New Zealander, but the cinematography was beautiful.
Things people are angry about
Complaining about casting non-white characters:
This is embarrassing and idiotic. We live in the 21st century, so we have evolved into a global community. Because of this, stories like The Lord of the Rings have been translated and spread around the world; it’s a global brand. This means people from all walks of life, in hundreds of different countries, are already or possibly potential viewers and fans.
Why would the production company alienate these people, by casting all white actors? People need to see themselves on the big and small screen, because we need to reflect society and reality. The fantasy genre is not just for straight white males; it’s for anybody. So anyone complaining about non-white actors in the show, really need to join us in the 21st century. Seriously, come join us, we have Salt and Vinegar chips!
Complaining about the pace of the show:
I’ve read several complaints about how the show was slow, boring and lacked action. I can understand this, but for me it was a slow burn. Yes, it did start slow, but it didn’t end that way. As the show progressed, tension, intrigue, drama and action, started to develop. You can’t have a show that has action and drama in every scene, because that would be exhausting and pointless.
Yes, some parts of the show were slow, but that was by design; it needed to be that way. An example of this was when Theo found the sword hilt, that just happened to be what Adar was looking for; but what did it do? What was its function? You had to wait to discover the secret.
Basically, I had the attention span to watch all eight episodes and not be bored. The pace of the show was fine.
Complaining about Galadriel’s personality:
For this one, people were upset about how Galadriel was so combative, argumentative, arrogant, selfish and unpleasant. The main reason viewers felt that way, was because they were comparing Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel to Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel; which was always going to happen. That was unavoidable.
Yes it’s true that Galadriel is not all about kittens and rainbows at the start of the show, but we need to remember two things:
1.) Galadriel’s brother Finrod, was killed in battle against Morgoth, and her husband Celeborn, is missing, believed dead. She is suffering and angry. She knows Sauron is alive, she just needs the evidence to prove it. The way is she is obsessed with finding Sauron is questionable, but Galadriel’s not wrong.
2.) Clark’s Galadriel is thousands of years younger than Blanchett’s Galadriel. The Galadriel in the future (The Lord of Rings) is wise, compassionate and sympathetic. She has crafted these traits over thousands of years, because she has evolved and changed; just like us. Are you the same person you were 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30 years ago?
No, you’ve changed, along with your opinions and the way you see the world. Why would a fictional elf that is thousands of years old, that has gone through terrible life experiences, be any different? In order for Galadriel to be the wise elf we know in The Lord of Rings, the journey that she has started in The Rings of Power, will take her there.
You can actually see Galadriel’s emotional growth from the first episode to the last. It’s her story arc; all great characters have them. Galadriel has made mistakes, because even fictional elves are not infallible. We know what Galadriel’s final destination is, but we get to tag along with her on that journey. Galadriel will change and develop over the course of the show; that’s the point many people have missed.
Things I’m looking forward to seeing in the show
Hopefully watching King Durin III and Gil-galad, become more compassionate leaders towards other races.
Exploring what the three elven rings, Narya, Nenya and Vilya can do.
More battles.
Spending time with Sauron and his shenanigans.
The forging of the seven dwarf rings, and exploring their abilities.
The forging of the nine rings, destined for the leaders of Men; but also the corruption of the mortal men. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
The forging of the One Ring by Sauron and how he uses it.
More battles.
The downfall of Númenor.
The return of Celeborn and Isildur, but also the rise of Elendil.
Maybe some Balrogs.
Gandalf interacting with the world.
More battles.
The Harfoots settling in the Shire. Maybe.
Seeing Arondir and Bronwyn marry.
Watching the relationships between the elves, dwarves and mortals develop.
If it’s not obvious, I liked The Rings of Power. Is it perfect? No. Is there room for improvements? Yes. Am I going to return for Season Two? Yes, yes I am. The show has added to the Middle-earth lore. There is huge potential for the show, so we can pray to Eru Ilúvatar, that Season Two will blow us away.
But that’s my humble opinion. Have you seen The Rings Of Power? What are your thoughts? Please let me know.
That’s it for me, I’ve off to raid the pantry before bed. Thanks again for following Some Geek Told Me, read some banned books, walk your dog, and I’ll see you next week.
I want to talk about 2023. Why? Um…let’s see. It’s nice to see the back of 2022 and usher in 2023, so Happy New Year! Because we have a brand new year, filled with fear and disappointment, I thought it might be optimistic of me for a change, to discuss what I’m looking forward to this year.
This is not a New Years Resolutions List, because you know, they don’t work. No, these are special events that are happening in 2023. It could be the release of a new movie, tv show, book, sporting event, of just about anything, as long as it is happening in 2023. They are five notes that go with the list.
1.) Just because an event is on the list, does not mean I will get to experience that event in 2023. A book might be released in May, a movie might come out in December, or a tv show will be released on a streaming platform that I don’t currently subscribe to, so I may not read and watch them until 2024. Also I can’t watch every single World Cup match or sports game either; I wish.
2.) Annual events like birthdays, anniversaries, Free Comic Book Day, or annual sporting competitions are special, but they don’t count, because they happen every year.
3.) Sour Cream and Chives being banned is very hopeful, but severely unlikely, so I can’t really put it on the list.
4.) Some dates could be confusing because of time zones differences, but they are subject to change,
5.) Against popular belief, I don’t know everything. There will be information about an event that hasn’t be released yet, that I could be interested in; but if I don’t know about it, I can’t add it to the list.
Right, I’m not here to shag spiders, so let’s do this.
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup: 11th February-27th February
New Zealand Tour of India: 18th January-1st February
England Tour of New Zealand: 16th February-28th February
Sri Lanka Tour of New Zealand: 9th March-8th April
New Zealand Tour of Pakistan: 13th April-7th May
New Zealand Tour of England: 25th August-15th September
ICC Men’s World Cup: 10th October-26th November
Football
FIFA Women’s World Cup: 20th July-20th August
CONCACAF Gold Cup: 24th June-16th July
Side note: The 2023 AFC Asian Cup and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, have been pushed back to late 2023 to early 2024, with no confirmed dates. Thanks COVID-19 and climate change.
Rugby Union
2023 Rugby World Cup: 8th September-28th October
I have no idea about international fixtures, other than the Six Nations and the World Cup.
Rugby League
I have no idea about international fixtures or tournaments.
I live in New Zealand, so these are my favourite sports. I’m very sorry.
Movies
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February)
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (March)
John Wick: Chapter 4 (March)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May)
The Flash (June)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (June)
Oppenheimer (July)
The Marvels (July)
Blue Beetle (August)
Dune: Part Two (November)
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (November)
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (December)
And for various reasons, I’m a little nervous for this one:
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June)
I’m painfully aware that out of all of these movies I want to see, only one is not a some type of sequel. Damn you Hollywood!
Television
The Mandalorian (March)
Superman & Lois (March)
Loki (Unknown)
Secret Invasion (Unknown)
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Unknown)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Unknown)
Invincible (Unknown)
Doctor Who (Unknown)
Star Trek: Discovery (Unknown)
House of the Dragon (Unknown)
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Unknown)
Wow, what a list of superheroes, fantasy and science fiction shows! I’m embarrassed now.
Music
I have no idea, I have to start listening to more music created after 2005.
Literature
Manga
Sadly, I read six different titles and they’re published sporadically; so I don’t know when they would be released in 2023.
Comics
Saga is back in January with #61.
Any Locke & Key or The Umbrella Academy mini-series.
Fiction
The Nature of Middle-earth (February-paperback)
Star Wars: The High Republic – The Battle of Jedha (February)
Star Wars: The High Republic – Quest for Planet X (April))
Star Wars: The High Republic – Cataclysm (April)
Star Wars: The High Republic – Path of Vengeance (May)
The Fall of Númenor (Unknown-paperback)
Non-Fiction
Starry Messenger : Cosmic Perspectives on Civilisation (June)
A Brief History of Black Holes : And why nearly everything you know about them is wrong (Present)
The Men Who Destroyed Africa (Unknown)
Let’s be honest, shall we? One day I will talk about Star Wars: The High Republic; I purchase too many books; but also, my to-read pile is not getting any smaller. It has grown to three piles now. Because of that, I could continue listing books, but you’re probably already bored with my ramblings anyway, so I won’t add any more.
Random
New Zealand General Election (Sometime in mid-late 2023)
More news of nuclear fusion discoveries.
Any new SpaceX , ESA or NASA launches.
New images from the James Webb Space Telescope.
Any new species discovered.
Any new Count Binface election campaigns.
New content from my favourite bloggers and YouTube channels.
UMC1 and UMC2 could be playing sport this year, so I’m looking forward to that.
The problem is that I’ll publish this blog and then realise I’ve missed something; as usual. Anyway, is there anything that you think that I’ve missed? What are you looking forward to in 2023? Please let me know.
That’s it for me. Read some banned books, walk your dog, and I’ll see you next week. Thanks for reading!
At the moment 2022 feels less like a year, but rather like a twisted Pokémon trainer that runs around and collecting comic icons, instead of Pokémon. Not only did we lose Neal Adams, George Perez, and Tim Sale this year, but quite recently, Kevin O’Neill, Carlos Pacheco, and Kevin Conroy, also died.
I don’t know what I can say about these three icons, that has not already been said before, by far better writers and journalists over the last few weeks. In saying that, I’d still like to say something.
I can’t be sure, and it won’t come as a surprise; but I think the first time I saw Kevin’s art was with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I do realise he had created a lot of art through 2000AD content, Marshal Law, and other material, but the League stands out to me.
I loved his attention to background detail, body proportions and facial expressions; so it meant that Kevin’s art was very recognisable. Have you ever seen a drawing of Daredevil, Green Lantern, Zorro, or any other character, and just by glancing at the art work, you could name the artist? Kevin’s art was like that for me, I could stare at a picture and realise, “Kevin O’Neill drew that, that’s Kevin’s.” I loved his art.
Speaking of loving art, I loved Carlos’ work for different reasons. His work grew on me, because I’d sometimes see his art ranging from Fantastic Four, Captain America, X-Men, Avengers, Inhumans, Excalibur, Green Lantern, The Flash, Superman,Arrowsmith, and so many more.
After discovering that the art I’m looking at belonged to Carlos, I would often comment about how he could draw anything, because it seemed like he was drawing everything on the shelf. I loved his range, but also his commitment to getting each panel to almost sing with positivity and direction.
Both Kevin and Carlos were masters of their beloved trade, and it showed through in the volumes of their work. They helped me to learn and discover new ways to appreciate stories, as well as being gobsmacked with stellar art work.
As for Kevin Conroy, well he was Batman’s voice, wasn’t he? I’m old enough to remember when Batman: The Animated Series was released, but young enough to have watched it. It was amazing and so was Kevin. Over the years, if I was watching an animated version of Batman voiced by Kevin, then I knew it was legit.
Through two decades and countless animated series and movies, coupled with his video game work and his live-action performance, Kevin was the definitive Batman. He brought more depth and range to the character than anyone beforehand, but also shone a spotlight on Bruce Wayne’s pain and compassion. He helped to flesh out Batman’s 2-D existence and dragged him by the cape, into our 3-D world. Damn it was glorious and it still is.
Thank you Kevin; Thank you Carlos; Thank you Kevin. I don’t know what else to say about three people that I never met, other than their work has brought a lot of happiness into millions of people’s lives and including my own; and will continue to do so.
This was another strange post to do, so I’m sorry about that. I’ll return to our regular weekly blog about nonsense next week. Thanks for following, go walk your dog, buy a banned book and I’ll see you next week.
SOME GEEK TOLD ME 
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